Why Georgia Rowe loves being the tallest player in the NSL

Georgia Rowe used to hide away because of her height, but now the goal shooter celebrates her status as the tallest player in the Netball Super League. 

The LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons player stands proud at 6ft 5in, taking over the mantle from Mary Cholhok. 

For Rowe, netball was the vessel for her to feel comfortable in her own body. 

She said: “For me, and being six foot five, that was not always easy. Growing up, being in school, I was head and shoulders above everybody in my year. 

“I was a bit of an awkward child, my parents would probably describe me as really odd, and I am ok with that, I love that.

“My friends would invite me out, and I’d say ‘no thanks, I just want to go home and watch Jungle Run on the telly'.

“It was that when I am this tall, and it was harder when I was younger, I found it easier to just say no to things, ‘no I’m not going to come out’, ‘no I’m not going to come to that party’.

“But netball is a team sport, you don’t get to hide away from the social elements of it.

Photo credit: Gareth Everett

“I was shy and timid, and just long with limbs everywhere. It was harder when I was younger, but I thrive with it now.”

The 30-year-old denied pleas from her PE teachers and school friends to join her school netball team.

But with her 18th birthday approaching, and Rowe just a little too comfortable on the sofa at home, her parents decided to do something. 

She added: “My dad said I had to do something with this height, so he rang Wales Netball.

“Melissa Bessell, who was the coach at the time, said Celtic Dragons have got a game coming up, come down and have a look and see if you think it is something you can do.

“I went down, sat in the crowd, and I remember thinking this is so fast, everything about the players was so impressive.

“ I spoke to Melissa, and she asked, 'Do you think you can do that?', and I said, 'Yes, I can do that' so confidently!

“Obviously, it wasn’t easy, but I thought this was where I needed to be. 

“I have not looked back since. I don’t know what I would be doing or where I would be right now if I didn’t have netball all those years ago.” 

Rowe’s career started at Cardiff Dragons, then known as Celtic Dragons, with brief interludes to Team Northumbria and Severn Stars.

Photo credit: George Wood - Getty

She has also shone on the international stage since first representing the Welsh Feathers in 2015.

The 2025 season marks Rowe’s eighth with the Dragons and she has started strongly, shooting at 91%, the second-best average for a starting shooter. 

While Rowe was a little unsure of whether she would earn a place with Cardiff Dragons for another season, particularly as a player who only offers one position, she is delighted to be at the place where it all began.

“I don’t know how many years I have got left in the league,” she admitted. “But I would like to end where I started; that was my motivator to come back.

“It is really close to home, and it is where I started all those years ago.

“I am probably coming to the end point of my career. I’m not sure when that is, I wouldn’t want to put an exact time on it, I’m nearly 30, but age is not really a factor.

“It will just be if I think I am not improving any more. But I am still improving, and the moment that I plateau and stop that, will be the moment I have to reevaluate.

“But I am loving it and have no intention as long as the body holds out for me.   

“I love Cardiff Dragons, I love everything about it, and it is where I want to end my career.” 

Photo credit: Getty

For now, Rowe is hellbent on pushing Dragons as far up the table as possible, with the Welsh side still searching for a first win in 2025, although they have a game in hand on most of the league.

Another thing Rowe is keen to do is to show the people who used to make fun of her who is laughing now.

She said: “I still get comments, I just think I can handle it now. In school, I was always called names.

“Walking into a classroom, even if people didn’t say anything, I could see it on their faces. But I was in a school where names were thrown about and comments were made about me.

“Now, I see all of those people walking around Newport and I’m like ‘Come on, what are you doing?’  

“I brush all of those off now because all I need to say when someone says anything is ‘I play netball for my country’; that is the best comeback.”

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Main image credit: Chris Fairweather